The less you know, the more you'll like...

Rating: 7/10 (7 July 2003)

I think the key to this movie is to avoid the relentless publicity, previews and all the interviews. It's more effective if you sort of just ride with it from moment to moment. The DV camera work is initially offputting and sometimes a little forced but if saving $$ (sorry, don't have a sign for pounds) by shooting on DV allowed those awesome initial shots of empty London it was money well saved.
The setting of England helped the horror because not everybody's got a gat under the bed, so if it's you and your baseball bat (instead of you and your NRA-issued submachine gun) against five screaming freaks that raises the stakes for you somewhat. Lack of CGI infestation means that the visuals are more personal than they would be with Digital Domain's painted-in armies of the dead. I think horror, especially this kind, is better that way. Some half-turns and questionable moves from the characters, esp. Jim (let me see, I'll throw down this Bullpup battle rifle for a more effective weapon...a bat! Yes! -That- will be a good upgrade!).
I don't think I can put this in the upper pantheon of "they're coming for you" flicks but it's serviceable entertainment. Owes a lot more to "The Omega Man" and "The Stand" than the Romero trilogy but suffers from a forced upbeat ending. Boyle certainly hasn't been a storytelling optimist in past movies, so I gotta think this is a personal declaration on his part or pressure from the suits to make a "movie about people" (I guess that's as opposed to a movie about plate tectonics or oranges, which we all know are very popular.)
Not horrible, not upper-echelon. The kind of thing you'll like if you like that kind of thing.